Good quality seeds can boost production

Farmers’ level crop production can easily be enhanced to 15 to 20 per cent on an average if they can avail the scope of using quality seed in their farming fields, said agriculturists at a workshop on Wednesday.

The field-level agricultural officials and other staff concerned should take the responsibility of making the farmers competent for enhancing quality seeds of the highly valued crops to meet up mounting demands of those in the country.

They came up with the observation while addressing a daylong workshop related to boosting the quality seed of crops at the conference hall of the Additional Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Rajshahi on Wednesday.

The Seed Certification Agency (SCA) regional office organised the “Quality Seed Production, Preservation and Distribution: Integrated Market Monitoring” workshop.

More than 60 district and upazila level officials and other agriculture-related scientists and researchers took part in the workshop updating their knowledge on the issue.

SCA Director Aminul Islam and DAE Additional Director Shamsul Wadud addressed the meeting as chief and special guests respectively, while SCA Regional Director Shamim Ashraf was in the chair.

DAE’s Deputy Directors Dr Abdul Motaleb, Mozder Hossain, Polash Sarker, Abdul Wadud and Abu Hossain also spoke. Aminul Islam said seed must be qualitative as its significance towards food security, nutrition and production enhancement is indispensable.

He told the meeting that there are enormous prospects of boosting pulse, oilseed and spice production in the region including its vast Barind tract and there is a need for concerted efforts to materialise the potentialities.

Islam urged the attending officials to become more vigorous towards encouraging the growers in the field of infusing dynamism into the seed production activities by themselves after the best uses of existing natural resources including suitable topography and climatic condition in the region including its vast Barind tract.

He asked them to form Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with beneficiary farmers of the project so that they can sustain their activities by utilising their best practices.

Shamsul Wadud mentioned that the government has attached the highest priority to the agriculture sector and added that field-level officials and researchers should take the responsibility of reaching the government’s services to the farmers’ doorsteps.